San Francisco
by VictoriaGrant
Summary: A series of missing scenes from PD I.
1. Chapter 1

"Your Majesty?"

Josef approached the desk where the queen was sitting, her paper work abandoned in front of her and she obviously deep in thoughts.

She only looked up when Josef was already standing in front of her.

"I´m sorry, I didn´t realize you were already here."

"I´ve noticed- what were you thinking about?"

"Amelia."

Josef nodded, he had been expecting this ever since the crown prince had died in an accident two months previous.

"You want to go to San Francisco?"

The queen sighed, then she nodded heavily.

"I suppose I will have to, we can´t afford to loose any more time now."

"Have you decided when you want to leave?"

"How far do you think it can be arranged?"

She asked, looking pleadingly up at him and for a moment Josef was lost in the melancholic expression in her blue eyes, then he mentally pulled himself together, his boss had asked him a question and he´d better stop staring at her and answer it.

"We can leave as soon as you wish, Your Majesty."

"I was hoping you would say that- can you make the necessary arrangements?"

"Of course, Your Majesty- who is to accompany us?"

"Charlotte of course and then whoever you see fit from the security team, the rest depends on how the consulate is staffed right now."

"I´ll see to that- is there anything else I can do for you?"

For a moment a smile brightened up her face, then she nodded.

"Actually I´d like to go outside for a moment."

"Of course, Your Majesty."

He waited until she had gotten up from her chair, then escorted her over to the doors and outside into the corridor.

"I have to admit I´m a little nervous" the queen sighed as they walked down the garden path towards the rose garden.

"I hope Amelia will understand the importance of her role."

"You shouldn´t worry too much yet, you will have to wait and see."

"I know- Josef?"

"Yes?"

"Thank you."

"What for?"

She smiled.

"Simply for being there- listening to my rambling."

"Queens don´t ramble, they ponder" Josef teased her and she actually laughed, her eyes sparkling in the sunlight.

---

"I forgot how hot it was in summer" the queen sighed as they made their way over to the waiting limousine.

Josef looked her upside down, she was dressed in an immaculate black dress and jacket with a silk scarf around her neck and a string of pearls and despite her comment looked absolutely flawless.

"Thank God for air conditioned cars then" he joked as he helped her into her seat.

---

They arrived at the consulate half an hour later and Josef personally carried the queen´s luggage upstairs, he wanted to make sure she was all right before leaving her alone in her rooms.

"Shall I send for some tea?"

He asked her and she nodded, watching him put her suitcases onto the bed.

"I´ll send for someone to unpack those- are you hungry?"

She shook her head.

"No, I´m too tired- what time is it again?"

"Four pm- you could rest a little, your dinner guests won´t be here until eight."

"No, if I sleep now I´ll be up all night, I want to adjust to the time difference straight away- I´ll just have a cup of tea and then go out into the garden."

"I´ll see you down there then, I want to make sure everything around here is save first."

She smiled, shaking her head.

"You don´t do anything but perfect, do you- make sure you eat something before you start to work though, I will need you fully alert tonight."

"Why, are you expecting anything unusual to happen?"

"I don´t know any of the people who will be attending and it makes me uneasy."

"Don´t worry, I´ll be right behind you."

"Beside me, Josef."

She corrected him gently and he nodded.

"Of course, Your Majesty."

---

She was looking lovely, even though she was distressed which he could understand, to say that the afternoon hadn´t gone well was an understatement.

He walked towards her and she turned to him instantly, looking so helpless that all he could do was keeping himself from pulling her close to him and comfort her.

---

"Josef?"

He looked up from the book he had been reading.

"Good evening, Your Majesty."

Putting the book aside and getting to his feet he watched her approach him, still dressed in the immaculate black skirt and jacket she had been wearing at her slightly catastrophic meeting with her granddaughter.

She was looking flawless and beautiful like always but there was something in her eyes that Josef didn´t see there often, she looked insecure and the way she nervously clasped her hands together proved Josef´s suspicion to be right.

"Can I talk to you for a moment?"

She asked and when he nodded she sat down in a comforter opposite the couch he had been reading on.

She waited until he had taken his seat again, then began "I wanted to know if I offended you when I asked you to look after Amelia for a few days, you were right of course, you aren´t a babysitter or a chauffeur but you are the only one I would want to trust with her."

The honesty in her blue eyes made Josef´s heart melt, most people only ever saw the queen and he was one of the few who from time to time were granted a glance at the woman behind the facade.

"I know, Your Majesty, I was out of line to complain."

"No, you were not and if you don´t want to do this, I totally understand, I can have someone else look after Amelia."

"Of course I will look after her, it´s just- who is going to look after you?"

He hadn´t meat to actually say it out loud but of course that was his greatest concern, he didn´t mind looking after the princess for a few days, even though she seemed to be anything but fit to represent her country he had liked the girl and he was sure she would come to pass with her role in time.

What he didn´t like was the thought that the queen would be left with someone else to guard her, Clarisse Renaldi´s schedule was as full as ever, despite the fact that she had come to San Francisco to see her granddaughter and there would be at least three appointments outside the embassy on every day and Josef felt highly uncomfortable at the thought that he wouldn´t be going with her.

Clarisse´s face had softened at his words and she leaned forward, her eyes gazing into his.

"Josef, you´ve personally picked all the security personal, I´m sure we have someone who can step in."

He nodded reluctantly, fighting the urge to seize her hand.

"Yes, of course but it still feels strange."

"It feels strange to me too but we have to think of Amelia now, she´s most important."

"Nothing is more important than you" Josef told her, all playfulness gone from his voice.

"I won´t be queen forever, Josef" she reminded him softly, so softly that Josef wondered for a moment if she could possibly have understood that he hadn´t been talking to his queen but to the woman in front of him.

"So when shall I pick her up tomorrow?"

Josef asked, resigning himself to the fact that he would see little of Clarisse in the coming weeks.

"We will go there together, I need to talk to her before my meeting with Spain and Portugal."

"That means we´ll go with two cars?"

"Yes."

She nodded and Josef couldn´t help but add "So you can at least ride with me while going down there."

She smiled, obviously amused by his persistence.

"I will of course, it´s not as though I desperately want to get rid of you."

The teasing note in her voice made Josef chuckle, it was rare that she was so relaxed these days and he wondered if maybe coming here to meet the princess had been a good idea in more than one way.

"I´ll go to bed now, do you have to accompany me to my doors or am I allowed to go there alone?"

The queen asked, getting up and Josef followed suit.

"Of course there´s no need to accompany you if you don´t wish it- I can follow you at an appropriate distance instead."

"Now that was just what I wanted to hear" she sighed, getting up from her chair and taking the arm Josef offered her.

"We´ll leave at seven tomorrow, are you joining me for breakfast at six twenty in my room?"

"I will."

They had reached her door and Josef let go of her arm- there was a slightly strained moment of silence before Josef said "Goodnight, Your Majesty."

"Goodnight, Josef" she whispered back, then she quickly kissed his cheek before entering her room and closing the door behind her, leaving Josef to get over the shock her sudden display of affection had caused him.

---

She was beautiful as even as he entered her room the next morning, sitting in a chair next to the window in front of a small table, a cup of tea in her hand.

She looked up when he opened the door, a smile playing around her lips.

"Good morning" she sounded far more cheerful than she had in days and Josef couldn´t help but smile gently back at her.

"Good morning, Your Majesty."

"Come, sit down, I have ordered coffee for you."

"Thank you."

He sat down opposite her and she poured him some coffee, then offered him toast.

"Aren´t you going to eat anything?"

He asked and she shook her head.

"I´m too nervous, I´m afraid- but I´ll have lunch at the Spanish embassy, so don´t worry, I won´t starve."

Her eyes twinkled in a mocking fashion and Josef nodded.

"All right then- what are your plans for the rest of the day?"

"I´m planning to be back in time for Mia´s next lesson and after that I was hoping we could plan the ball, there´s still a lot of things we havn´t discussed yet."

"Why don´t we discuss it all over dinner then, Charlotte will join us anyway and apart from her no one else is required, are they?"

He had finished his toast and the queen put down her cup, then they made their way out of the room and down the stairs.

Josef escorted the queen to the limousine and carefully closed the door behind her, sighing as he realized that this would be the last time he would get a chance to do this for her until they would return back to Genovia.

"Don´t look so upset, it´s only for a few weeks" her voice was unusual soft and when Josef met her eyes in the mirror she smiled warmly at him.

"I know- I still don´t like it though, as a matter of fact."

He kept watching her in the mirror as he stirred the car through narrow streets, fascinated like always by her beauty and elegance.

All too soon they had arrived in front of the house Mia and her mother were living in and Josef was forced to get out of the car and help the queen out of it as well.

"Do you want me to come inside with you?"

She shook her head.

"Thank you but I think this is something I need to do on my own."

---

His eyes followed her when she gracefully walked over to the second limousine they had brought while he waited for the princess to get into the car.

He closed the door behind Mia, then stepped over to the second driver.

"Anything happens to her, I´ll break your neck" he told the other man in an undertone, watching him blanche.

"Yes, boss."

"Good- so get her to the Spanish consulate now and make sure they have everything covered before you let her exit the car and don´t let her walk away from you until someone has taken over and be at least fifteen minutes early, we can´t risk her standing outside waiting- and call me when you are on the way back."

"All right- anything else?"

"Yes- don´t talk to her unless she talks to you, the car rides are the only moments of privacy she gets all day long."

He finally walked back up to Mia´s limousine and got in, waiting until the second limousine had pulled out onto the street.

"Is everything all right?"

The girl asked, following his gaze.

"Yes, princess- I´m just a little concerned about Her Majesty, I don´t like letting her out of my sight."

"Oh- how long have you been working for her?"

Mia asked as Josef started the engine.

"I´ve started working at the palace the same year she got married to the king and I´ve been her personal bodyguard for almost as long."

"Wow- so you two must know each other really well" Mia observed and Josef couldn´t help but smile, the girl´s direct way to address people was charming.

"I suppose that´s true."

"So that´s why you have to look after me, because she trusts you more than the others?"

"That´s what she said."

"But you´d rather be with her, right?"

Josef smiled at the insecure undertone in the girl´s voice.

"It´s not like that, princess, I simply feel as though I´m out of control and I hate that feeling."

"But that other guy will make sure she´s ok, right-"

"I hope that for him- if he doesn´t make sure of that I might have to kill him with my bare hands."

Josef´s voice sounded even and Mia broke into a fit of laughter.

"You know what the scary thing is? I can really see you do that- so you like my grandmother, don´t you?"

"What exactly does like involve in your speaking terms?"

"Well, you know- like her- not just like her, obviously."

"There isn´t any romantic involvement, if that is what you are implying. I´d dare say we are friends, though."

Mia sighed.

"Do you all have to be so correct all the time? It makes me feel like a complete idiot."

"You will get used to it, princess- it´s called diplomatic."

"Oh, so you are- involved- with Grandma then?"

Mia grinned, causing Josef to roll his eyes in mock annoyance.

"Don´t let her hear that, she´d have a fit, I´m a mere soldier in an endless attempt to protect the crown and she is- well, the crown."

He had pulled up in front of the house where Mia had told him her best friend Lily was living and Josef felt glad that the rather embarrassing conversation was over, it was hard to deny his feelings for his queen, even in front of a teenage girl.

He listened to the girl´s chatter, smiling slightly to himself, he could see now that this visit had been the best thing that could have happen to Clarisse, her granddaughter would make sure to pull her out of her depressive mood, one way or the other.

He called the man he had entrusted the queen to the moment Mia and her friend had left the car and was relieved to hear that Clarisse had arrived at the consulate and was currently in the meeting, then he smiled when he heard her voice.

"Josef, I´m alive and well, you can stop worrying- did you get here there all right?"

"Yes, Your Majesty and I met her best friend- compared to Miss Lily the princess is a very nicely groomed and mannered girl.

Clarisse sighed.

"Perfect- I have to go back into the meeting, thank you again- I´ll see you at half past two."

---

He found her in the garden where she was sitting on a bench, a lost expression on her beautiful face.

"It didnt´go well again?"

He asked, sitting down next to her and she turned towards him.

"No, not very well- actually it was a catastrophe."

"I´m sorry to hear that- but she´s a good kid."

Clarisse looked back at him disapprovingly.

"I should send you home, you´re already starting to adopt American terms of speaking."

Josef chuckled.

"I´m sorry, Your Majesty, it won´t happen again- so what happened?"

She looked up at him.

"Do you really want to know?"

"Don´t I?"

"No- I don´t think so."

"Tell me anyway- what went wrong this time?"

"Everything, Josef- how can a girl be so- so-"

"Clumsy?"

"Well, that obviously is the perfect word for it."

"She is young, she needs some time to adjust."

"We don´t have time, how on earth am I going to make her fit to attend a formal dinner, let alone a ball?"

"She´s your granddaughter, there must be something of you hidden inside of her."

"I´d say hopefully but it wouldn´t sound very demure."

"You can afford it, you are perfect."

"Practically perfect" she corrected him, a smile now playing around her lips.

"I´m addicted to tea- and I get scared easily when I´m in a crowd."

"Not without reason" Josef´s thoughts trailed to the day when King Rupert had been taken a gunshot wound to his arm when he had exited the limousine while Josef had pulled the queen down onto the car´s floor and shielded her body with his own, yelling at the driver to move.

He remembered Clarisse´s terrified scream, her whole body trembling as he held her to him, praying that he would get her safely back to the castle.

The king had been released from the hospital a few days later but since then the queen was even more apprehensive when it came to attend large gatherings of people.

"Josef-" her quiet voice brought him out of his dark thoughts.

"I have to ask another favor of you."

He looked up, then said "You want me to teach her how to dance."

"Well, yes- how do you know?"

"She´s to attend the ball, obviously she will have to dance there- and there´s no doubt that she has no experience at all."

"No, really not- so do you think you can do that for me?"

"Do I think I can do it or do I think I can do it for you?"

He teased, fully aware that he shouldn´t be pushing boundaries but he couldn´t resist.

"Up to you" she replied in the same tone and Josef nodded.

"I´ll do my best."


	2. Chapter 2

"Are you all right?"

Josef had been watching the queen wash her hands for a full minute now and he was starting to get impatient.

"Oh, I´m sorry, Josef, you know how he is- it´s simply disgusting."

She dried her hands, then finally turned around to her head of security.

"Well, I suppose that will do now- so where do we start?"

"I thought we´d look over the guest list first- what are the Van Troken´s doing on there?"

The queen sat down next to him.

"I thought that was obvious, I can hardly not invite them after all."

"Why? Everyone knows that they are hoping every day that you lose the throne to them and that should be reason enough to not let them come anywhere near you."

He had sounded a lot more agitated then he had planned to but then he simply hated it when the queen was around people who weren´t outspokenly polite towards her and the Van Troken´s usually were anything but.

"Josef, there´s no point discussing this, I can´t remove them from that list- what else, do you have everything covered?"

"I´m not aware of any problems- I´ll accompany the princess into the room, like you wanted."

He wasn´t happy about that, he preferred to be the one who walked behind the queen when she made her entrance- at least that gave him the opportunity to tell her how beautiful she looked before anyone else got the chance and she would give him her brightest smile and thank him and he would kiss her hand, trying to put everything he was feeling while simply looking at her in the small gesture.

This time his job would be to see the princess to the table and he wouldn´t get a chance to get anywhere near the queen till the end of the dinner.

"Josef-" her voice brought him out of his gloomy thoughts.

"I´m sorry, what did you say?"

Clarisse sighed, shaking her head but Josef could see her hiding a smile.

"Should I be worried about you? You seem more and more distracted every time I talk to you lately."

"Is that surprising you?"

"Well- yes- it´s not like you."

She looked at him expectantly and Josef hesitated, then he shook his head.

"You don´t want to discuss this any further, trust me."

She looked taken aback but to his surprise she listened to him and dropped the topic, instead she pulled the printed guest list towards her and studied it once more.

"So apart from the Van Troken´s there´s no one on here you don´t agree with?"

"It all seems to be in order- the last obstacle is your responsibility."

"You mean Mia? Yes, I know- I really hope she´ll be all right- I think I should go and see if Paolo has finished yet."

"Probably- shall I come with you?"

"I think I can find the way, Josef, why don´t you enjoy some moments of solitude before you drive Mia home?"

"Actually I get too many moments of solitude this week- I´d rather come with you."

He offered politely and she nodded, seemingly indifferent but he could see the glow on her cheeks.

---

"You have to admit that it was a positive surprise" Clarisse sounded slightly impatient but Josef shook his head.

"That´s not the point, Your Majesty- she has spend all her life trying to blend in somehow and it never worked, she´s always been different, her friends are different and now she feels as though she doesn´t fit in anywhere anymore, have you never felt like that?"

She looked confused and Josef realized that it had a silly question, of course she had never felt like that, she had been raised as a princess, to marry the crown prince and become queen, mother of the heirs to the Genovian throne, always flawless, perfect and she had never had to worry about anyone not approving of her, everyone had been worried about her not approving of them.

"All right, you obviously havn´t- I could have known."

"Should I apologize for that now?"

She asked, sounding a bit hurt.

"No, of course not but you should try and understand Amelia, she´s confused, she is scared that she will lose the only friends she has and that´s a big thing to a fifteen year old girl."

"She will get used to it, once she is queen she will see that there´s no one who will see her for who she is anyway, all they will see is the crown."

Josef didn´t know what to answer to that and Clarisse turned away from him, her hands cramping around her tea cup as she tried to hold back the tears that were threatening to fall at any moment.

Josef stepped up beside her and gently took the cup away from her and put it onto her desk, then he pulled her close to him.

To his relief she simply relaxed, her head on his shoulder as she allowed him to comfort her.

He knew of course that she often felt lonely but hearing her admit it in front of him, so full of trust almost broke his heart.

"You know that this isn´t true, there are a lot of people who see you for what you are."

"And what would that be?"

Her voice was muffled by his shirt and Josef continued to trace gentle circles on her back to calm her down.

"Fishing for complements?"

He teased, relieved when his words were met by a soft chuckle.

"I´m not- sometimes I don´t know who I really am between all the things I have to represent myself anymore."

"I could remind you of course- I could tell you that you are beautiful and funny and warm and of course very intelligent and a real lady but coming from me that might be inappropriate" he added, still a teasing undertone in his voice.

"Why?"

Her face was still hidden against his shoulder and Josef chose to ignore her question, she knew the answer as well as he did anyway.

"I have to go now, school will be out in half an hour."

He gently pulled away from and Clarisse straightened up, now looking slightly embarrassed.

"Josef, I-" He held up his hand to silence her.

"No need, I know what you want to say, just don´t. I´ll go and pick Mia up now."

---

Josef was surprise to see that the princess seemed to have forgotten all about the morning´s troubles but of course it was a pleasant sort of surprise.

"Josef?"

"Yes, Your Highness?"

"Do you think I can bring Lily to the ball with me?"

"If you can bring her to wear an evening gown I don´t see why you couldn´t, Your Highness."

"Oh- ok, I´ll try and do that then- Josef?"

"Yes, Your Highness?"

"How is Grandma?"

Josef met Mia´s gaze in the mirror before stating "I believe you have seen her more often than I have in the last week, Your Highness."

"Yes but she doesn´t talk about anything personal with me- am I a really big disappointment or do you think she can get over it in time?"

"I´m afraid you will have to ask her things like that yourself, princess."

"That was diplomatic again, right."

Mia sighed and Josef nodded.

"That´s right, Your Highness."


	3. Chapter 3

Thank you all very much for the comments, you guys are great, I´ll post the next part now!

Oh, ForeverJulie, thanks for seeing my subtle little hints :D 

---

"I´m starting to get rather nervous."

"Don´t worry, Your Highness, you are looking lovely and you will be fine."

Josef assured the young girl who was sitting in front of the mirror in one of the consulate´s guest rooms, wearing a blue gown with her hair swept up and, in Josef´s opinion, looking her best by far, if she didn´t manage to engage in any of her usual mistakes she would be a worthy representative of the Genovian royal family tonight.

Charlotte entered the room to talk the princess through the guest list for a last time and Josef got up from the chair he had been sitting in.

"If you excuse me for a moment."

He left the room and walked down the corridor, then knocked at the door on the far right.

"Do come in."

He opened the door and entered the room, then closed the door behind him again before turning to face his queen.

She was looking stunning like always and for a moment Josef could do nothing but look at her and only when Clarisse cleared her throat pointedly his head snapped up to her face.

"I´m sorry, I- you look very beautiful tonight, Your Majesty."

"Thank you, Josef."

She smiled warmly at him, then said "Do you want to sit down for a moment? I suppose you wanted to tell me about some changes in tonight´s plans?"

He hesitated, then decided to simply be truthful with her.

"Actually there aren´t any changes, everything is going smoothly, the prime minister just arrived and is greeting everyone in the foyer, the princess is dressed and Charlotte is talking to her right now."

"Well, good- so why did you come here then?"

There was something in her voice Josef couldn´t really place, he might have called it hopeful if the situation had permitted that.

"I just wanted to make sure you are all right- you know, before you go downstairs."

He avoided her gaze, looking at his shoes instead, then started when he felt the queen´s hand softly cupping his cheek.

"Thank you" she whispered and suddenly Josef realized that what he had seen in her eyes before had indeed be hope, hope that he didn´t have a reason to talk to her, that all he had wanted was to talk to her for a moment.

"Anytime, you know that. I´ll go and take the princess downstairs now and introduce her to Sebastian, shall I send Charlotte back here?"

"No, I´m fine, I´ll be down in a moment as well."

He missed the warmth of her hand against his cheek when she withdrew it.

---

Josef watched Baron Van Troken whisper with his wife when the queen entered the room and felt anger boil inside him, he would have liked nothing better than to throw the couple out but unfortunately that was out of the question.

The one thing he could make sure was that that man wouldn´t get anywhere near the queen for the rest of the night.

Of course the princess managed to provide enough entertainment for several evenings and Josef could see the queen looking more and more distressed by the minute.

He stepped up behind her and discretely offered her some painkillers, she always came down with headaches when confronted with occasions like this dinner not going as planned.

"Thank you, Josef" she said quietly, gratefully taking the pills from him.

"Just try and think of it as funny" he advised her, earning himself a painful smile and stepped back again.

He spend a good half an hour trying to coax the princess from under the table where she had sought refuge after Clarisse had asked the guests out of the room.

He now had told the girl to wait for him by the doors and was looking for the queen, finally he found her talking to the prime minister and his wife.

"Can I talk to you for a moment?"

He asked and she excused herself and followed him over into a corner.

"Is she all right?"

"She´ll come around, I´ll take her home now, her mother will know what to do."

Clarisse nodded.

"Yes, I think so too- do you think I should come out with you?"

Josef shook his head.

"I don´t think she wants to face you again tonight, right now she thinks you are going to exile her or something."

"But that´s nonsense!"

"Of course but I don´t now is a good time to discuss that, just wait until you see her tomorrow."

He thought for a moment how ridiculous it was that he was advising the queen how to treat the crown princess but the moment was gone instantly when Clarisse said "Will you tell her that I´m not mad at her?"

"Yes, I will- I will be back as soon as I can."

"I think everyone is about to leave anyway, shall we have a cup of tea in my office when you get back?"

"Of course, Your Majesty."

---

When he entered the office he found that she had already changed out of her dress and into a nightgown and robe, she was sitting on the sofa in front of the fire place and was staring into the flames, obviously lost in thought, her hands gripping her tea cup tightly as though she was trying to extract the warmth from the steaming liquid.

"Your Majesty?"

She looked up at the sound of his voice and Josef sat down next to her, reaching for the teapot and filling a cup for himself.

"Don´t worry about her too much, Helen said she´ll make her a mug of hot chocolate and put her to bed straight away and tomorrow you can talk to her yourself."

"The poor girl- that was even worse than my first official dinner, do you remember?"

Josef laughed.

"Oh yes, I do- at least you didn´t hide underneath the table."

"No, much worse, I ran out of the room."

"It took me almost half an hour to find you."

"Well, at least you found my shoe on the stairs, your silly Cinderella jokes really brightened up my mood."

"There were some flaws in it though, technically it shouldn´t have been I who found the shoe" Josef joked before taking another sip of tea.

"Who knows, maybe you were just the right person to find it, after all you proved to be my knight in shining armor more than once."

"But I am not a prince."

"What does it matter, I was a princess, just think of it as switching roles" she mused, pouring herself another cup of tea.

"Well, if you insist on seeing it that way, maybe I was the right person to find your shoe."

"I felt so horrible that night, I thought I could never face Rupert again, let alone his parents."

"I know, there was no way to coax you out of that broom cupboard, no matter how hard I tried."

"Well, you found a way, didn´t you."

"I admit I didn´t play fair, simply lifting you up and carrying you to your room was not only out of line but I also took advantage of your rather fragile physical form."

"Fragile?" 

The queen gasped in mock indignation as she slapped his arm and Josef couldn´t help but break into fits of laughter.

Clarisse leaned back against the couch and continued to sip her tea as though she was unaware of him being there what amused Josef even more.

Finally he asked "So what did King Rupert say the next day, you never told me that."

"He couldn´t understand what I had found so horrible, he thought it was brilliantly funny- well, I would have liked to see something like that happening to him instead, I don´t think he would have found it remotely funny then."

"Probably not, no- tonight was funny, though, most of your guests agree with that."

"I know, I still hope it won´t happen again at the ball."

"That reminds me, I have to pick up my tuxedo tomorrow- I´ll do that while the princess is at school."

"I have a fitting for my gown tomorrow morning, I really hope we´ll be done when you arrive back with Amelia."

Josef looked at his watch, then back up at the queen.

"It´s getting late, Your Majesty, I think you should go to bed now."

She laughed, that pearly, sweet laugh that made Josef´s world spin faster around him.

"You are right, Josef, now you say it I realize how tired I am- how come you know me better than I know myself?"

"It´s my job to make sure you are getting everything you need, including enough sleep, Your Majesty."

"Well, then I suppose I should obey and go to bed- goodnight, Josef."

Her hand briefly found his before she gracefully got up from the sofa and walked over to the door.

"Goodnight, Your Majesty."

Josef waited until he was sure she was in her bedroom before following her out into the corridor, he didn´t want to give her the impression he wasn´t giving her enough space to breathe, it was difficult for a bodyguard to balance the need to know what their charge was doing and where exactly they were at every second and the need of said people to have some privacy.

---

He had hardly ever felt so many emotions all at once- anger that she had risked her life in such a stupid fashion, hurt that she had betrayed his trust, relief that she was unharmed, joy to see her but above all else Josef felt fear- fear of what he had experienced the moment he had realized that she was gone and then again, even stronger when he had heard about the accident- utter and complete panic at the prospect of losing her.

It was this feeling of helplessness and despair that made him grip her upper arm and pull her down the corridor towards her office with him, ignoring her protests and slamming the door behind them.

She was staring up at him, her eyes wide in shock but Josef didn´t care that he had just shown an attitude towards the queen that could not only lose him his job but also get him into a lot of legal trouble, all he cared about right now was to get through to her what she had done.

"What the hell were you thinking, have you lost your mind?"

His voice was cold and trembling with barely controlled fury.

She didn´t answer, she was still standing there motionless, just looking at him, looking so pure and innocent that Josef almost forgot why he was furious with her.

"Do you know what could have happened to you out there? You could have been kidnapped or shot or you could have been seriously injured in that car, how could you simply run away from me, have you stopped for one minute to think what we all went through today? But no, of course you havn´t, Clarisse Renaldi is above the worries of others, she only does what she likes and what trouble it causes doesn´t matter!"

He was yelling at her now, at some point he had lost control and now he couldn´t take back what he had said anymore.

He saw tears spring to her eyes and then her hand collided with his cheek.

They both stood motionless for a moment, then Josef muttered "I suppose I deserved that."

She started to cry instantly, her arms wrapping around his neck and he held her to him, feeling her heart hammering in her chest.

"Shh, don´t cry" he whispered into her hair, he couldn´t bear the thought that this time she was crying because of him, he was always so determined to keep her away from any pain and hated everyone who caused her even more heartbreak and now he himself was the reason she was falling apart.

She looked up at him, her blue eyes wide and tearful and Josef couldn´t resist the temptation laid out before him, pulling her even closer to him he bent his head and covered her lips with his.

He had imagined what it would be like to kiss her countless times but nothing could have prepared him for this bliss, they melted into each other, there was no haste or frenzy, yet passion and heat that came from the strong bond between them, from years of longing and denying.

No words were spoken when they finally broke apart, there was no need for talking, they both knew that they had reached and crossed the point of no return, now they had tasted that love that had ripened to perfection between them they couldn´t live without it again.

Josef continued to hold Clarisse in his arms, he never wanted to let her out of his sight again, she finally was where she belonged, where she was safe and where he could make sure nothing and no one could ever again cause her any pain.

Much later a knock at the door brought them back to reality and Clarisse reluctantly disentangled herself from Josef´s arms and opened the door to find Charlotte outside.

"Your Majesty, I just- oh, hello Josef, I´m sorry, I didn´t want to interrupt anything."

"I´ll leave you alone" Josef excused himself, making his way over to the door.

He knew that there was no way Clarisse could openly declare her feelings for him, that all he could hope for was a love in silence but for the time being he was willing to accept whatever she offered.

He knew she would talk to him when she had the opportunity, right now it would be best to leave her alone with Charlotte.


	4. Chapter 4

OMG, how great are you guys, thank you for the reviews, they get pampered and cuddled of course :D

So here´s the next part, hope you´ll continue to read, like and review!

---

The knock at the door wasn´t exactly surprising but Josef still hadn´t dared to hope that it would come.

It was late, almost midnight and as far as he knew everyone had gone to bed by now, the day had held enough excitement to exhaust everyone on the staff.

He opened the door and just like he had expected found the queen outside, dressed in a cream colored satin robe and matching slippers.

"May I come in?"

She simply asked and he nodded, letting her walk past him into the room before closing the door again and turning around to her.

Josef felt as though he was drawn to her by an invisible force and his arms wrapped around her waist before he had even noticed he was moving at all just as Clarisse´s hands moved up his chest and came to rest on his shoulders.

This time the kiss was sweet and slow, rather a promise of forever than the anxious fulfillment from earlier that day.

"You know, actually I thought we would talk" she whispered against his lips, her smile evident in her voice.

"Are you sure you want to talk?"

"Hm, no, not sure- don´t you think we should talk, though?"

"Is there any need to talk? You know that I love you, I know that you love me and we both know that right now there can´t be more than this, stolen moments no one can know about- I can do that, at least for as long as it´s necessary, I´d do anything to be with you, Clarisse."

She laid her head against his shoulder, relaxing and Josef kissed her temple, then said "Do you want to sleep here? I promise I´ll be a gentle man."

She laughed softly.

"Aren´t you always- you have to promise that you wake me early though, my maid will bring my tea at six thirty."

"That can be arranged, my Darling."

"Well- then I´d love to sleep here" she smiled up at him, a little shyly, reminding Josef of the girl he had carried upstairs to her bedroom so many years ago after one catastrophic state dinner.

Holding her in his arms almost felt too good to be true he thought when they were finally lying in bed, Clarisse´s head on his chest, his arms wrapped around her as he listened to her calm breathing.

---

"Clarisse, Darling, we have to get up."

He kissed her cheek gently, then watched as she opened her large blue eyes.

"This wasn´t a dream?"

He shook his head, smiling.

"No, it was real- it still is real- if you want it to be."

"Oh, I do" she replied, her hand closing around his neck and pulling him down to her and their lips met in a tender kiss, then Clarisse sat up and reached for her robe.

"Will you join me for breakfast?"

"Of course, Your Majesty" Josef answered in a very serious tone, causing her to giggle in a rather girlish way.

"Good, I´ll see you in half an hour then."

She leaned over to him and quickly kissed his cheek, then opened the door a crack and, after making sure no one was in sight, slipped out of the room.

---

Charlotte was standing in front of the sofa, a clipboard in hand when Josef entered the queen´s library.

"Good morning, Your Majesty- Charlotte" he smiled at the younger woman, then sat down in on the sofa in front of the desk.

"Good morning, Josef."

Clarisse sounded just like always but Josef could see a slight blush creeping into her cheeks- Charlotte didn´t seem to notice it but smiles brightly at him.

"Hello, Joe- aren´t you going to pick the princess up?"

"It´s Saturday, Charlotte, there´s no school today."

"Oh- right."

She turned back to the desk.

"That would be all, Your Majesty- anything else I can do?"

"No, thank you, Charlotte, you may leave- I´ll see you at lunch."

The younger woman smiled at Josef on her way to the door which closed behind her moments later, leaving Josef alone with the queen.

Clarisse rounded the desk and sat down on the sofa next to him, smiling when he seized her hand and kissed it gently.

"I think I´ll come with you when you pick Mia up later, what do you think?"

"I would like that very much- when are we going?"

"Right after lunch with the Greek ambassador- I have a feeling that everyone seized the opportunity to come to California to meet me."

"Well, I suppose it´s a nice change from the grey East coast weather and it´s much closer than to come to Genovia to talk to you."

"I suppose you are right- coffee?"

"Yes, thank you."

They sat in silence for a while, enjoying each other´s company until Clarisse finally said "I´m really sorry but I have to ask you to give Mia another dancing lesson, she desperately needs it for the ball."

"Of course- though only if you promise me to send her home straight away afterwards and stay a little while longer yourself."

Clarisse smiled lovingly at him, then nodded.

"That sounds like a very good idea to me."

---

"Darling?"

"Hm?"

They were dancing slowly, Clarisse´s head on Josef´s shoulder as the room slowly grew darker around them.

"You will have to change for dinner soon."

"I know" she sighed without lifting her head up or showing any desire to disentangle herself from his arms.

"Just a few more minutes."

"If it was up to me you could have all the time in the world, you know that- that reminds me, how did your dress fitting go?"

"Very well, you´ll like the dress."

"I like whatever you wear, you are always beautiful."

There was silence until the song they had been dancing to ended and Clarisse looked up.

"I´m afraid I really have to go now- I´ll meet you in the hall in an hour?"

"Of course, I´ll be in the security room till then, I want to check if everything is in working order."

---

She looked exceptionally pretty in a navy blue gown and matching heels as she swept down the stairs to greet the prime minister and his wife.

"Your Majesty, you look absolutely stunning" Sebastian gushed, kissing Clarisse´s hand and she laughed softly.

"Thank you, I aim to please- shall we then?"

She led the way over to the table where a few other members of the Genovian parliament were already waiting, there had been no way around inviting them to tonight´s dinner as they were already in town for the ball.

"Good evening, gentlemen" Clarisse allowed each of the men to kiss her hand, then sat down at the head of the table.

Her eyes found Josef´s and she smiled lightly, a tiny gesture that went unnoticed by anyone but him.

---

"It feels wrong, you know" Clarisse said as they walked down the garden path side by side, the queen still in her gown, Josef in his usual black.

"What feels wrong?"

"Treating you like this- not being able to openly smile at you or to have you sitting beside me."

"That time will come, Clarisse, for now I´m more than happy to have you near me at all."

"Oh, Josef."

She halted her steps and leaned against him, her arms wrapping around his waist as he pulled her closer.

"At times like this I wished I was just a normal woman."

"It´s at times like this that you are, my Darling- now come, let´s get you into bed, you are tripping over your heels already."

"You are awful- I am the queen, you should overlook things like that."

"I thought you wanted to be normal" he teased back, offering her his arm.

"Well, I suppose being normal might be harder than it seems."

"Well, you´ll never have to try it, it´s just a game."

She looked amused as he led her back over to the garden doors.

---

"Are you sure?"

Josef had knocked on the door of Clarisse´s rooms to say goodnight to her and now found himself being asked to spend the night there.

"Yes, of course."

She closed the door behind him and Josef looked around the room, he had been in here before but never had time to examine it at leisure. 

"LIke what you see?"

The queen asked, turning around to him.

"Always."

He replied, his eyes traveling over her body clad in a purple silk nightgown and a matching robe and Clarisse blushed.

"I was talking about the room, not about- well- me."

"The room is very nice- tasteful, not too pompous but no understatement either, just like you."

"So you will be comfortable, good."

She hesitated for a moment, then extended her hand and Josef took it, following her over to the large bed.

The queen folded back the sheets, then motioned for him to get in and Josef settled down onto the mattress, feeling a bit awkward but the feeling got lost instantly when Clarisse shrugged out of her robe and joined him, the sensation of her warm body in his arms overwhelming him.

"I still can´t believe I finally told you how I felt" she admitted and Josef looked back at her curiously. 

"How long have you wanted to?"

"I don´t really know, you were always more than a friend of course, you were closer to me than anyone, you were around me almost all the time, I shared a lot of things with you I didn´t share with anyone else- in the first years I never permitted myself to really ponder on it though but then the boys went away to school and I began to feel more lonely and at some point I couldn´t deny anymore that you were the man I thought of while listening to love songs or who I would imagine while reading a romantic novel or poem- and then it became more and more obvious how you felt about me and suddenly it was all even more dangerous and exciting at the same time."

"Your Majesty, I´m shocked, I´d never have guess that you could have second thoughts about your Head of Security" Josef joked, pulling her still closer and kissing her hair.

"I´m glad I finally found the courage to tell you" she stifled a yawn and Josef pulled the sheets a bit higher around them.

"Go to sleep, Beautiful."

---

"Is there anything you want to discuss?"

Josef asked, getting tired of Charlotte´s pointed looks.

"That depends- what would you say if I told you that I was a little bit distracted this morning when I went to give a printed e- mail to Her Majesty and forgot to knock?"

Josef´s face was impressive.

"I´d say I consider you as a friend- both mine and Her Majesty´s."

Charlotte nodded slowly.

"That´s all I wanted to know."

"Actually not exactly, there isn´t anything to know about- not more than what you might have seen."

"And is it going to stay that way?"

Charlotte now sounded curious.

"That my dear Charlotte is none of your business, as much as I regret to torture you like this."

Charlotte bit her lip to keep herself from giggling.

"I think I understand- so good luck then, Joe."

"Thank you, Charlotte- don´t you have to be somewhere?"

Charlotte looked at her watch and gasped.

"Oh my God, Her Majesty will kill me."

She hurried off, leaving a highly amused Josef alone at the kitchen table.


	5. Chapter 5

Thank you for the reviews of course, you are all just fab :D

Oh yes, about the kissing before the wedding thing, I for myself am completely convinced that they have had an affair- stupid word, sounds so negative but well, that´s what it would have been obviously- since the ball in San Francisco, at least that´s what I took for granted when I watched PD II- so in my stories usually it will be like that, though I think it´s as interesting to read stuff where it´s completely different of course. 

Well and obviously I have this thing, I love it when men simply call women Beautiful as an endearment, it´s sugar sweet- at least I feel it is- hope you agree. 

So here is the next part, please, please keep reading and of course I´d just love more reviews!

---

"So what am I going to do now?"

She asked him, a pleading tone in her voice, she looked lost and Josef glanced down at the newspaper, then back up at her.

"Talk to her, tell her that you aren´t mad at her, you risk to loose her if you don´t."

"I can´t loose her, Josef, I´m so glad I´ve finally found her."

"You still have the diary, havn´t you?"

"Yes, I- oh- will you drive me down there?"

"Of course I will."

"Thank you- again."

"There´s no need to thank me, I really like the girl- and what I feel for you I don´t even have to say, so I´m hoping you two will make it up, the sooner the better."

"GIve me a few minutes to change into something a bit more colorful, will you? Somehow this dark things are depressing me now."

---

"How did it go?"

"I don´t really know- I think she still doesn´t want the crown, oh Josef, what shall we do? We can´t just let her walk away, we´ll loose Genovia."

The queen sounded despaired and Josef sought for something to comfort her but couldn´t really think of anything.

"Do you have a lunch appointment?"

"No- why?"

"Shall we go somewhere where no one knows who you are and forget about it all for a few hours?"

"We can? Don´t we have to tell anyone?"

"No, we don´t- you are my responsibility and I intend to live up to that."

"Actually that sounds like the most amazing idea."

"Good, then let´s just disappear."

---

"This is just lovely" the queen sighed, watching the sunlight dancing on the ocean water.

Josef had crossed the Golden Gate Bridge and driven the car down to Sausalito where he had parked it and helped the queen out.

They had looked at the houseboats and then found a charming little restaurant for lunch before taking a long walk and now they were sitting on a bench, just enjoying their time.

"You´ve never been out here I surmise?"

She shook her head.

"No, never- it reminds me of the French Riviera."

"It´s often compared to that."

"What would it be like, living on a boat, what do you think?"

"Would you be living there with me?"

She looked up at him, then she smiled and nodded.

"Obviously I would."

"Then it would be amazing, what else could it be?"

"You have a devastatingly wrong image of me" she teased as he wrapped his arm around her waist.

"I couldn´t, I have seen you in every possible mood already."

"Probably- I´m sure I could still manage to surprise you though."

---

"You are looking absolutely breathtakingly beautiful."

The way the queen´s eyes sparkled in response to his words made Josef want to tell her that a hundred times more just to keep that look of utter happiness and content on her face, unfortunately he had something else to say and that wouldn´t go so well with her.

"Mia isn´t here- she told me that her mother would drive her here and Helen thinks I would pick her up."

"You mean she´s going to run away?"

Clarisse asked him, going pale and Josef nodded grimly.

"That´s exactly what I mean- I´ll go and try to find her now."

"Do fInd her, will you? Please?"

"I´ll do anything I can- I´ll be back as soon as possible, try to distract them as long as possible, you can do that, I know you can."

Her smile was weak but it was a smile nevertheless. 

"Thank you- for everything."

"It´s nothing, just my duty- this time to my heart" he added before quickly looking around to make sure no one was watching them, then he pressed a quick kiss to the queen´s lips before walking away from her.

---

It was a sign just how much Clarisse had hoped for Mia to turn up that she didn´t even look taken aback at the girl´s less than acceptable appearance. 

After the princess´s speech Charlotte ushered Mia away to have her get dressed and groomed and Clarisse and Josef followed at a distance, then the queen surprised Josef by pulling him into her office and closing the door.

He could just make out her face in the moonlight falling through the windows but as he moved to switch on the light Clarisse shook her head.

"Don´t- I only wanted to say thank you- and tell you that I love you."

She leaned into him and kissed him softly, her arms wrapping around his neck.

Josef responded to her kiss gently, pulling her to him and after a moment he pressed her up against the door as the kiss grew deeper.

They finally broke apart, breathless and Clarisse sighed audible at the loss of contact to Josef´s body.

"I so wish we didn´t have to go back" she whispered, the tone in her voice sending shivers down Josef´s spine.

"That can´t be helped- am I allowed to dance with you later?"

"As long as you like."

She gave him a last quick kiss, then opened the office door and stepped back out into the corridor.

"Do I still look presentable?"

"Beautiful as always, just a bit flushed."

"Well, that´s not a bad thing, is it- so let´s go and see if Amelia is ready."


	6. Chapter 6

Wow, I didn´t dare to trust my eyes, so many WONDERFUL reviews, I love you all so much :DDD

So here is the next part, I hope you will all enjoy it and I didn´t rush things TOOOO much but after all they are adult people and I trust them to know what´s good for them ;)

Big kiss and hugs to you all, have fun reading and I´d just adore more of those splendid reviews!

For a moment Josef wondered if he had gone to far, cutting into the dance of the queen and the prime minister but the way Clarisse smiled at him put him at ease at once.

They watched Mia and Michael for a while, relieved to see that the princess obviously felt confident with her position at last and finally the song was over and Josef had to hand the queen over to a parliament member.

He watched her sweep gracefully across the floor for some time, then decided that he would ask her for another dance, then another until finally Mia wished for some more modern music and Clarisse looked pleadingly at Josef who laughed.

"Let´s find a more quiet place, what do you think?"

"That sounds like a very good idea to me" she agreed, relief audible in her voice.

He led her away from the dance floor and into the hall, dismissing the guards there with a nod of his head.

He slowly reached for her hand and held her surprised gaze as he gently kissed her gloved fingers.

A radiant smile blossomed on her face and her fingers tightened around his as they walked up the corridor together towards the queen´s rooms.

When they reached the door Josef looked at her questioningly.

"Tea?"

She shook her head.

"No tea tonight, Josef."

She leaned into him and kissed him softly, then opened the door and Josef followed her, not quite daring to hope what he thought she had meant.

The moonlight cast a soft shimmering glow over her dress as she stood with her back to him, her head slightly turned as she said "Would you help me with the zipper?"

"Clarisse, I-" he couldn´t think, she was offering him all he had ever dreamed off but could he simply take it?

"Do I have to order you?"

She teased, her amusement obvious in her voice.

"That won´t be necessary, Your Majesty" Josef answered, stepping closer to her.

She bent her head to give him better access to her neck when he brushed his lips against her skin, a small sigh escaping her lips.

Josef carefully brought the zipper down and parted the dress, his breath quickening at the sight of her bare skin.

Clarisse turned her head, her blue eyes sparkling in the dim light.

"Why do you always have to make things so complicated?"

She asked him and Josef tried to think of a smart answer to that but couldn´t really think of anything.

"Maybe I´m just scared" he finally said, his fingers trailing down her spine, making her gasp.

"Of me?"

"For you- always for you, Clarisse."

"Oh, Josef-" she turned around in his arms as he pushed the dress over her hips, her arms wrapping around his neck.

"There´s no need to be scared for me, I think about what I do first- well, almost always" she added, obviously thinking about the day she had left with Mia without alerting anyone to it.

"Are you sure this is what you want?"

Josef asked her very seriously though it was hard for him to focus on anything but her body pressed against his chest.

"I´m absolutely sure that this is what I want- as long as it is what you want, too."

"You can´t be serious doubting that, you can´t possibly imagine how long this has been all I´ve wanted."

"I think I can, actually- but that´s not all there is to it, you know that- this must remain a secret between you and me, probably for years to come, it won´t be easy and I have to be sure you fully comprehend what it means before we cross that line."

"Don´t you think we have crossed that line a long time ago?"

Josef pulled her a bit tighter against him, less shy now in exploring her body with his hands, he knew what a relationship with her would be like and he didn´t care at all, every chance to be with her was paradise to him.

"We have?"

She shivered in his arms, reacting to his touches and caresses and Josef smiled lightly before whispering "You talk too much, my darling."

"Oh we don´t have to talk- not at all."

She kissed him again, slowly and sensually, her fingers starting to undo the buttons on his shirt.

"Just give in" she whispered against his lips, "you have my full permission to do whatever you want."

"Are you sure you can handle that?"

He whispered back, now more at ease as it slowly sank in that she was indeed being serious about her desire to take their relationship to the next level.

"I trust you" she simply said, then she sighed appreciatively when Josef´s hands closed around her waist while his lips travelled down her neck on to her collar bone.

"I´m glad to hear that" Josef murmured into her soft skin, lost in the scent of her perfume.

"Let´s take this somewhere a little more comfortable" Clarisse suggested, then she gasped when Josef simply lifted her up into his arms and carried her over to the bed.

"What, aren´t you fond of knights in shining armor?"

He joked, carefully lowering her onto the sheets.

"Now you mention it I could get used to it- actually it´s quite comfortable not having to walk anymore, those shoes are killing me."

"I´d carry you around all day long if you asked me too."

"Yes, I´m sure you would" she wasn´t mocking him, her tone was nothing but tender as she looked up at him.

"I love you, do you know that?"

"I do know, my queen- I love you too, more than anything."

Josef lightly traced his fingertips up Clarisse´s arm, smiling when she sighed in her sleep and snuggled closer to him.

The moonlight was casting a golden glow on her hair made her skin seem even paler than usual and Josef had been lying awake for quite a while, just watching the queen sleep and trying to convince himself that he wasn´t dreaming.

Clarisse stirred in his arms, then opened her eyes and a beautiful smile spread over her face.

"Shouldn´t you be sleeping?"

"Why, do you think you wore me out?"

Her smile widened.

"I havn´t?"

She leaned into him and kissed his lips, the tried to straighten up again but Josef wouldn´t let her, instead he rolled her over and pinned her to the bed again.

"Yo te quiero" he whispered to her before trailing butterfly kisses down her throat and over her collarbone.

"Je t´aime, mon amour" Clarisse sighed, her breath warm in her ear.

"I like it when you speak French" Josef whispered against the queen´s skin, "it´s sexy."

Clarisse chuckled throatily, her head bent back to give Josef better access to her sensitive skin.

"Like I said the other day, I aim to please- especially you."

"Good morning, Your Majesty- Charlotte" Josef closed the office door behind himself and Charlotte quickly glanced at her clipboard before looking at the queen.

"That would be all then, Your Majesty."

"Good- please do call Amelia and see if she´s well enough to join me for lunch, will you?"

Charlotte made a note on her clipboard, nodding.

"Of course, Your Majesty."

"Thank you- Josef, please take a seat."

Charlotte left the room and Clarisse rounded her desk and sat down next to Josef on the sofa.

"We have to discuss something- something rather unpleasant" she added, sounding business like but Josef could see that she was trying hard to fight back tears.

"What´s wrong, Clarisse?"

He asked gently, taking her hand in his.

"It´s still a month until term ends and Amelia will visit me in Genovia- I´m planning to introduce her to the security staff and see who might be willing to go back to San Francisco with her."

Josef understood her instantly and his heart sank.

"You want me to stay here with her."

"I don´t want you to stay here- but I have to ask you, anyway."

She added, her voice very quiet now as a single tear ran down her cheek.

Josef brushed it away, then cupped her cheek in his hand.

"Clarisse, we have waited so long, we can survive another four weeks, don´t you think?"

To his surprise and delight she leaned into his touch and allowed him to pull her into him, her head coming to rest on his shoulder.

"I don´t know how" she admitted, her fingers tracing his upper arm as she looked up at him.

"I know I shouldn´t say this but do you know how wonderful it is to hear that?"

She smiled sadly.

"I think I do- I´m sorry I hurt you so much."

"You didn´t do it on purpose, Clarisse."

"I was afraid, it´s not a good excuse."

"So was I- I still am, I am terrified and I can´t believe I´m sitting here, holding you- that you would love me, of all people."

"Oh Josef, don´t say something like that, you are the best thing that ever happened to me."

"No pressure, Darling."

She was fully smiling now and Josef felt relieved.

"Now that´s better- now come on, let´s go for a walk in the garden, you havn´t seen the additions Charlotte made to the garden yet."


	7. Chapter 7

_Thank you for all the great reviews, I´m still overwhelmed with how great you all are, just _**_ADORABLE_**

_About the dance thing, yeah, me too, it was really a little- well- weird- but cute, so I´ll let it slide._

_Lovemaking scenes, well, apart from the fact that I don´t like to write them I havn´t rated this story M, so there won´t be anymore than hints and small gestures but if you want a love scene I´ll think about a one shot and rate it M- oh, yes, I LOVE to write teasing conversations, my favorite thing to do actually :D_

_So I´ll see about that love scene stuff and I hope you´ll all keep reading and reviewing!_

"You are going to stay here with me?"

Mia looked from Joe to her grandmother and back again.

"Yes, Your Highness."

Josef replied, avoiding Clarisse´s gaze, seeing the sad expression in her eyes almost broke his heart.

"But that´s going to be a nightmare" the princess protested, earning herself surprised looks from both queen and bodyguard.

"I´m sorry, I don´t mean you are a nightmare" Mia hastily added, looking apologetically at Josef, "but I´ve already listened to you telling about how worried you are about Grandma for the last month, I can´t go on like that."

She was grinning now and Josef bit his lip to keep himself from smiling while Clarisse rolled her eyes.

"Mia, for heaven´s sake, do stop embarrassing everyone around you, will you?"

"What, I was embarrassing you as well?"

The girl asked, sounding completely innocent.

Clarisse decided not to comment on that and instead got up from her chair.

"It´s time, we have to be at the airport in two hours- Amelia, do me a favor and don´t cause any scandal until you come to stay at the palace."

"Does that mean I´m allowed to cause some scandals there?"

"You are a little too cheeky, young lady, we´ll have to work on that."

"Yes, Ma´am."

Mia saluted and Clarisse finally laughed.

"Oh be like that, why aren´t you- you´ll be late for school, so let´s leave now."

"You´ll be with Alexander today, Your Highness, I´ll accompany Her Majesty to the airport."

Josef informed Mia on the way outside.

"Sure, that´s cool- I´ll see you after school then?"

"Yes, princess."

Clarisse hugged her granddaughter, then led the way over to her limousine, followed by Josef.

They both got into the back seat, determined to spend at least the short time the ride to the airport would take alone.

"I will miss you."

Clarisse sighed, snuggling into Josef´s arms, her head coming to rest on his shoulder as he held her to him.

"I will miss you more."

He replied, causing the queen to look up with an amused smile on her face.

"You won´t- it´s impossible."

"It is?"

"Of course- I will miss you more."

"I doubt that- how about we´ll miss each other more?"

"That sounds acceptable- I´ll call as soon as we have landed."

"I hope you will, I will be worried until I know you have arrived back home."

"It´s strange to travel without you, I never did before."

"I hope it´s a one time thing."

There was silence for the remainder of the way as Josef did his best to prove to his queen how much he would miss her and Clarisse responded to his tender kisses and caresses with the same intensity.

FInally they had to exit the car and Josef led the queen over to the plane, his hand firmly on the small of her back.

He saw her to her seat and waited until she had closed her seat belt, once again causing her to laugh.

"Do you think I can´t do this without you?"

"Usually I check if it´s fastened securely, I don´t intend to make an exception today."

"Well, it is fastened, thank you- now go on, it´s getting harder and harder to keep my composure and I somehow think it would be a bit of a give- away if I burst into tears right now."

"Probably- so have a good flight."

"Thank you- don´t threaten the pilot on your way out."

"How do you know I was intending to do just that?"

"I saw what you did to the poor driver- people don´t function that well when they are scared, you know" she teased, smiling coyly up at him.

"As you wish, I leave him in peace then."

Josef quickly looked around and when no one was in sight he softly kissed Clarisse.

"I love you" she whispered against his lips, her hand stroking his cheek and Josef drew away from her only reluctantly.

"Me too, my Darling."

The plane finally came to a hold and Josef looked over at the princess who was looking out of the window, her cat in her lap.

"It´s really beautiful" Mia beamed at him and Josef nodded.

"It is indeed."

"Will Grandma meet us?"

"No, she´ll wait for you."

"Us, Josef, it´s us- I bet she´s waiting for you as as much as for me."

"Most likely not, Your Highness" Josef replied smoothly, the curious young girl was bound to find out about his relationship with the queen sooner or later anyway and he didn´t want to make it easier for her.

"Ok, deny it all you want then- can we get out now?"

"We can, princess."

He watched Mia scoop up the cat and followed her over to the doors.

Josef watched Clarisse hug her granddaughter while helping to unload the car, there was no way he could greet the queen right now the way he wanted to great her, that would have to wait until later.

Finally Clarisse turned to him and smiled at him, the tender expression in her eyes giving her true feelings away, only for him to see.

"Hello, Josef."

"Your Majesty."

He kissed her hand, inhaling the sweet scent of her perfume he had missed so much.

"Amelia, do you want me to show you around or do you want to go to your room and rest a little first?"

"Rest sounds great, I´m so tired- the palace will still be there later, won´t it?"

"Yes, most likely it will be- I´ll send someone to see if you are awake when it´s time for dinner then, Charlotte will show you to your room."

"Ok- see you later then, bye, Joe."

Mia smiled at him, then followed Charlotte while the queen turned to him.

"Will you join me for tea?"

She asked, her tone formal in front of the ever present guards.

"Of course, Your Majesty."

They made their way towards her suite and when they arrived Josef dismissed the guards with a nod, no one would think anything about it, after all there was no reason for them to stand outside while the Head of Security was with the queen.

Clarisse wrapped her arms around him as soon as the door had closed and Josef laughed.

"No tea again, I take it?"

"Absolutely not."

They kissed deeply before Josef swept Clarisse up into his arms and carried her over into her bedroom.


	8. Chapter 8

_Thank you for the reviews, I´ll make sure you can tell the different parts apart from now on, I´m sorry about the confusio_n.

"Darling, we have to get up, you said you´d see if Mia wants to have dinner with you."

"I don´t want to, I want to stay here."

She mumbled into his chest, not even opening her eyes and Josef shook his head, smiling tenderly at the woman in his arms.

"Tempting but unfortunately impossible- come on, it´s already six."

"All right" the queen sighed but still she didn´t move until Josef pushed her off of his chest with gentle force.

"I see you are immensely happy to be with me again" Clarisse pouted, causing Josef to laugh still harder.

"Hey, you said you´d meet Mia for dinner, if it was up to me we would never leave this bed again."

"Really?"

She asked, sounding dreamy as she wrapped a robe around herself.

"Of course, I thought you knew that!"

"I do, I just like to tease- are you coming downstairs with me or do you have to check on some security system?"

"You know me too well- I´d like to do a quick check indeed, I shudder to think how the guys messed everything up in the two months I wasn´t here."

"Meet me for a cup of tea afterwards?"

The queen smiled innocently at him, now picking her clothes up from the floor.

"Tea or tea?"

"Depends- so will you?"

"How could I say no to you? And wether it´s tea or tea, I´ll be happy with every second I can spend in your company."

**"Wow, that´s great- I see having your own chef has it´s benefits" Mia stated and Josef could see Clarisse bite her lip, trying to keep herself from telling her granddaughter off for the way she sat and ate- after all it would be early enough if she started lecturing Mia the next day.**

**"That reminds me, can I invite my friends to stay for some time?"**

**"Of course, talk to Charlotte about that, she can organize everything- so now we have a formal dinner with some members of Parliament tomorrow, mainly those who didn´t manage to come to San Francisco to meet you but Sebastian and Sheila will be attending also, so we´ll place you next to him and it won´t be so uncomfortable for you."**

**The girl looked relieved and nodded.**

**"That doesn´t sound so bad- when do I have to get up tomorrow?"**

**Clarisse hesitated, then she said "I´ll leave that to you, Sweetheart but that´s only tomorrow- well and maybe on weekends."**

**"That´s fine, I have to learn one thing or the other while I´m here after all- is it ok if I go to bed now?"**

**"Of course, Darling, you are hardly able to keep your eyes open anymore- do you have everything you need?"**

**"Yeah- uhm, yes- sorry, Grandma."**

**The princess hugged Clarisse, then turned to Joe.**

**"So goodnight, Joey."**

**She winked and Joe shook his head.**

**"I´ll let it slide now but only because I´m afraid that if I start arguing you´ll fall asleep at the table and I´ll have to carry you to bed."**

**Mia giggled.**

**"I get it- so I´ll see you all tomorrow."**

**She left the room, accompanied by Charlotte, leaving the queen alone with Josef.**

**"I think I´ll go to bed as well."**

**Clarisse said, smiling at Josef who nodded and pulled her chair back for her.**

**"Shall I walk you to your room, Your Majesty?"**

**"I´d be delighted" she flirted back, taking the arm he was offering her.**

**"It´s actually still early, so do you want to have a cup of tea?"**

**Clarisse asked, looking at her watch.**

**"Yes, I think tea would be nice- I expect you want to hear all about the last weeks."**

**"I do, we didn´t have much time to talk every day after all."**

**They had sat down on the sofa and Josef watched Clarisse pouring them tea while telling her about the last weeks he had spend at San Francisco with Mia.**

**"So you think it could be serious with the boy?"**

**Clarisse asked as she handed Josef a cup.**

**"I think they feel that way right now but they are still so young, that can change."**

**"Oh it´s not that I don´t like him and besides we´ll get to know him better this summer, it´s just so unexpected, when I was sixteen I was planning my wedding and somehow I thought that anyone who can avoid being tied to someone so early would- but then of course it´s different when you really like someone" she added, smiling tenderly at Josef.**

**"Well, it´s not anywhere near that serious of course, after all I´ve been close to them most of the time, they go out and watch movies or have pizza and Michael showed Mia how to- what do they call it- pimp up her car."**

**"How to what?"**

**"Never mind, at least it works probably now- including the breaks."**

**"That´s very good news- I don´t think I´ll be very interested in going anywhere near it again though."**

**"I certainly think not, not as long as I am here- I´m never letting you out of my side again while Mia is around."**

**"Never?"**

**"Not if I can help it, she tends to act reckless and infects you with it."**

**"I have been acting reckless? Queens never are reckless."**

**"Aren´t they- then what would you call it?"**

**"Well, maybe a little bit- but I already promised you I wouldn´t do it again."**

**"Good girl- you should get a reward for that."**

**"Do you have a suggestion?"**

**She looked up at him through her long eyelashes, then giggled as Josef took her tea cup away from her and put it back onto the table.**

**"Obviously you do have one."**

**"Shut up, Clarisse" he told her calmly before claiming her lips with his.**

"I´ll never let you spend time alone with Amelia" Clarisse stated as she lay in Josef´s arms, her fingers tracing lazy circles on his chest.

"Why´s that?"

"You adopt too many of her speaking terms and I´m worried I´ll do the same."

Josef laughed softly, his hand coming up to pull the sheets up a bit higher around the queen´s shoulder.

"Well that´s of course unacceptable, Your Majesty- have I told you that I love you?"

"Not in the last ten minutes."

"That is unacceptable as well."

"Absolutely- we have to think about something to explain why you are in my rooms tomorrow morning."

"I´m often here already when your maid arrives."

"So you don´t think it´ll look strange?"

"Not stranger than it looked before and then I was simply giving you updates on your schedule."

"You are right- I´m sorry, I´m being paranoid."

"Understandable, my Darling- so who is going t attend that dinner tomorrow?"

"To be honest I don´t know, I had so much paper work to do today and I wanted to keep the afternoon to myself so I havn´t seen the guest list yet, I´ll ask Charlotte to put it on my desk, then we can look over it after breakfast."

"What are you going to wear?"

"Blue silk."

"Did you think of me when you picked it out?"

"Of course I did- but then I thought about you all the time, anyway."

"That´s good to know, I feared I had been the only one completely distracted."

"Not at all, Darling- I forgot to ask you, how badly did your ´guys´ manage to mess up your carefully installed system?"

"It wasn´t as bad as I would have thought, they obviously were terrified that I might get back and not be satisfied with everything."

"You can be rather intimidating."

Clarisse stated and Josef felt her smile, knowing that she just like him was thinking about the afternoon she had left with Mia without telling him again.

"Only if things don´t go my way- I adopted that attitude from my boss."

"Oh, really? What a horrible boss you must have."

"Not so horrible, don´t worry, I can handle her."

"Don´t be so impertinent, my Dear" she warned him playfully, her lips teasing his neck, making him moan softly.

"I might start to feel challenged."


	9. Chapter 9

_I´m feeling really bad about not answering comments individually, so I´ll start that now._

**Captain Weirdo, thank you very much, as you will have noticed I love writing easy conversations, especially when they have a teasing undertone, so there´ll be more of that in the next chapters.**

**JUJUChick16, thanks a lot for the sweet comment and for liking my story :D**

**Liesel Meminger, that´s soooo sweet, thanks very much, I hope you´ll like the next part as well.**

**bluegirl-783, I love how you selected the parts I like most about this chapter, please keep reviewing!**

**Clarisse Renaldi, thanks so much for making such an effort every time, I hope I managed to make the single parts visible this time, I´ll do the next in the part to come, I hope I don´t write Clarisse toooo coyly but I think in the second movie she´s much more emotional and funny with a hint of sarcasm, so I don´t feel I overdo it- and yes, I´ll update now ;)**

The knock at the door made them both look up and Clarisse smiled teasingly at Josef, whispering "I told you we need to get up early."

Aloud she said "Do come in" and a moment later Mia had entered the room, still in her pajama and robe and very untidy hair.

"Good morning- oh, hello, Joe."

The princess´s smile widened at the sight of him and Josef tried to act as though it was for a perfectly harmless reason that he was sitting at the queen´s breakfast table.

"Good morning, Your Highness."

"Are you hungry, Dear?"

Clarisse asked with the aura of a concerned grandmother but Mia didn´t seem to mind at all.

"Starving- uhm, I mean yes, I am very hungry."

Clarisse bit her lip to hide her amusement at the girl´s attempt to act as was expected of her.

"So sit down, do you want tea or coffee?"

"You have coffee up here? Good service" MIa unceremoniously slumped down onto the floor and leaned back against the sofa.

"Oh I´m drinking tea, I´ve ordered coffee for Josef, we are going over the security reports from last week."

Clarisse indicated a stack of papers on the table next to the breakfast tray, she had asked Josef to bring them as a plausible distraction and had already used them on her maid when she had brought the breakfast and then on Charlotte who had come up to inform the queen about some changes in her schedule.

Mia looked a little disappointed and Josef knew what that was about, the girl was convinced that there was something going on between himself and her grandmother and of course she had thought his presence at this hour of the morning to be prove of that, now she had to admit that her grandmother´s explanation was a perfectly acceptable one.

"You are working at seven thirty in the morning? I really have to think over my sleeping habits."

"You´ll get used to it, don´t worry, Sweetheart- that reminds me, do you have any experiences with horses?"

The girl looked up at Clarisse, alarmed.

"No- why?"

"Well we´ll have to work on that, there are a lot of traditional chores that require the queen atop a horse, like inspecting the guards, parades, not to mention hunting parties."

"You want me to go horse back riding?"

Mia was staring at her grandmother, aghast and Josef leaned forward.

"There´s nothing to worry about, Your Highness, you will learn quickly."

"About as quickly as I stopped injuring people on dance floors" Mia mumbled, shaking her head.

"I don´t have to try one of your mustangs though, do I?"

She then asked, looking even paler.

The queen shook her head.

"No, I think we´ll look for something a bit more solid for you."

"Oh, good- preferably with emergency break and everything."

"I´m afraid those don´t come with horses, Amelia but there´ll be something suitable in the stables, we´ll see to that after lunch."

"After lunch? But the dinner is tonight, I won´t be able to attend it if I break all my bones first" the girl protested before biting into a croissant, the prospect of having to attend horse riding lessons didn´t seem to have done anything to her appetite.

"An excellent point" Clarisse replied smoothly wile buttering herself a piece of toast.

"We´ll start with the lessons tomorrow."

"I think you´ve really shocked her" Josef chuckled when Mia had left to suite to go and get dressed.

"Obviously but Im afraid there´s no way around it, she´ll have to learn and sooner is better than later."

"Are you going to teach her yourself?"

"I´m not sure I will have enough time, I´ll just have to see if she has any talent, then I might but if she´s as hopeless as she has been at dancing she´ll need a professional teacher, on the dance floor she only injures people´s toes, if she falls off her horse it´s a lot worse."

"Thank you, Darling, it were mostly my toes you are so careless about."

"I´m sorry, I didn´t mean it that way" Clarisse purred, leaning over to him and softly kissing his cheek.

"Is there anything I can do to make it up to you again?"

"How about an invitation to tea tonight?"

Josef asked innocently and Clarisse laughed heartily.

"You are invited for tea every night, you should know that by now."

"In that case I wish for a dance with you at the ball next weekend" Josef replied, feeling that he was being brazen but the queen didn´t seem to mind.

"I´ll be delighted to grant you your request, after all you are the most divine dancer that will attend that ball."

"You are flattering me, Your Majesty" Josef teased her back, enjoying their flirting, it was so rare that they got a chance to be so at ease with each other.

_"How do I look?"_

_Mia asked, spinning around in front of Josef who nodded._

_"Absolutely lovely, Your Highness, red complements you."_

_"Thank you, Joe- I´m so nervous."_

_"There´s no need for that, princess, you´ll be sitting next to the prime minister and he´ll make sure no one bothers you with not appropriate questions."_

_"I´m glad about that, Sebastian is really nic__e."_

_"He is indeed, Your Highness."_

_There were light footsteps behind them and they turned to see the queen walking towards them, dressed in a stunning gown of blue silk, sapphires sparkling on at her throat._

_"Wow, Grandma" Mia exclaimed, causing Clarisse to blush what made the princess giggle in delight._

_"I have to go inside now, Charlotte is staring at me pointedly."_

_Charlotte blushed a far deeper crimson that the queen._

_"Your Highness, I didn´t meant to imply-" Mia laughed even louder and Clarisse shook her head._

_"Amelia, how often do I have to tell you to not embarrass people around you- now go on, everyone will be wondering where we are."_

_She waited until the princess and Charlotte had disappeared before turning around to Josef who was still looking at her, not knowing what to say._

_"So do you like the dress?"_

_"I like you in the dress- you are looking indescribable beautiful, it´s completely wasted on a formal dinner."_

_"It is? And what, in your opinion, should I be doing while wearing it?"_

_She smiled coyly at him._

_"If it was up to me to decide I´d say it´s the perfect dress for dancing in the moonlight or having a candle light dinner."_

_The queen sighed._

_"That would be wonderful but unfortunately I´m on duty, so to speak."_


	10. Chapter 10

_Captain Weirdo: Thank you, I thought it was somehow funny :D Please, please keep reading and reviewing!_

_JUJUChick16: Thank you- hehe, yeah, it´s Mia, isn´t it ;) She´s so cute when she is annoying- more to come now!_

_bluegirl- 783: Thank you- yeah, yeah you can never be prepared enough when Mia is present, so you have to go with all individualities, havn´t you- yeah, poor Darling, I LOOOOOOVE horses and I´m mad about them but I really can imagine how it must be if you are forced to deal with them if you are scared of them... Well more moments alone to come of course- thank you again :)_

_Clarisse Renaldi: Hi back ;) Hehe, yeah, me too but it´s Mia, you know- well, go and ask him, maybe you get lucky- if he moves in with you I´ll ask Clarisse to move in with me and give me some princess lessons :DDD More now!_

"It wasn´t bad" Clarisse told Mia in a comforting voice but the princess shook her head.

"You are right, it wasn´t bad, it was a catastrophe."

"Don´t be too hard on yourself, Sweetheart, everyone thought you are charming."

"That´s a way to put it- wait, that´s what Joe always calls diplomatic, right?"

Clarisse looked over at Josef who was standing next to them.

"He does?"

Mia nodded.

"Yes- whenever someone says something they use to express something unpleasant and sugar coats it."

"That´s an interesting way to describe it" Josef mumbled and Clarisse laughed.

"Don´t think about it anymore, Amelia, just go to bed, I´ll have some hot chocolate send up to your room."

"Thanks, Grandma- goodnight."

The princess kissed Clarisse´s cheek, then smiled at Josef.

"Goodnight, Joe."

"Goodnight, Your HIghness."

"And don´t forget about your riding lesson at eight thirty" Clarisse added cheerfully and Mia paled.

"That´s still on?"

"But of course, Sweetheart, I´ll be waiting for you outside the stables- your riding outfit is laid out in your room already."

"You will be- I mean you are going to be there- with me?"

"Yes, why?"

"But I bet you are perfect- you are perfect at everything!"

Clarisse laughed, shaking her head.

"You will be fine, don´t worry, Dear."

"I do worry though- Joe, can´t you do anything about this?"

Mia pleaded but Joe´s face remained impressive.

"My advice, Princess- listen to Her Majesty."

"Of course, I should have known you´d take her side."

Josef leaned over to Mia.

"I hate to break it to you, Your Highness but she´s my boss."

Clarisse gasped indignantly, causing both Josef and Mia to break into fits of laughter.

"All right, I´ll go to bed- goodnight, you two."

Mia ran up the stairs and Josef turned to the queen.

"I´m sorry, I-" "I know, you wanted to distract her from her fear- thank you, I really need some more time to adjust to the whole parental patience program, you seem to be a natural."

"Well you didn´t have any practice when your sons were small, they always came to their nanny- or to me."

"I see- well so I´ll rely on you in future- let´s go to bed, I can´t bear those shoes anymore."

"Shall I carry you upstairs, Your Majesty?"

"Thank you, I think I´ll make it upstairs on my own- you´ll have to accompany me though, just in case."

"Just in case, of course- so we´ll be meeting the princess at eight thirty?"

They were walking down the corridor towards the queen´s suite now, it was quiet at the late hour and they enjoyed their moment´s of solitude.

"Yes we will- do you think she´ll be all right with Rose?"

"Everyone is all right with Rose, Rose falls asleep while she walks."

"Yes, you are right- Josef?"

"Yes?"

The queen opened the door to her rooms and let Josef walk through before following him.

"When Mia takes the crown- in about five years, yes but still-" Clarisse hesitated and Josef turned around.

"What will be then, Darling?"

"Do you think we´ll ever can really be together?"

"We really are together, Clarisse."

He pulled her close to him, his lips brushing against the soft skin on her neck as she relaxed into his embrace.

"You know what I mean- I want to be with you openly, kiss you when I feel like it, dance with you while everyone is watching, I feel so guilty for asking this of you."

"I love you, Clarisse- don´t even forget that. I will wait for you as long as it is necessary, I simply want to be with you, any way I can, you don´t have to apologize for anything."

"You are wonderful" she sighed dreamily, looking up into his eyes as he pulled her still closer to him.

"So are you, Darling- now let´s get you out of that dress, it looks highly uncomfortable."

His eyes were twinkling and Clarisse kept her face straight when she nodded.

"You are right, it absolutely is."

--

"Im looking like a clown" Mia complained, looking down at her riding outfit.

"You are looking perfectly adorned for riding" Clarisse assured her granddaughter and Mia frowned.

"Yes, well, you look perfect of course, how come you can pull off wearing something like that and I look like a freak?"

Clarisse obviously decided to not pursue the topic any further and instead began walking towards the horses that were waiting for them outside the stables, held by a stable hand.

"So first things first" the queen began resolutely while taking the reigns of a chestnut mare.

"This is Rose, Amelia."

"Uhm- hi Rose."

Mia patted the horse´s neck hesitantly, then jumped slightly when the chestnut nudged her head against the princess´s arm.

"So what now?"

Josef looked at Clarisse and merely shook his head and the queen got the subtle hint and handed him the reigns.

"Josef will help you."

"Good- uhm- sorry, I mean- ok."

"Don´t bother, Sweetheart, I know I´m a little impatient from time to time" the queen said soothingly, then she reached for the reigns of a gleaming copper Arabian horse.

"This is Caprice" she told Amelia, patting the horse´s mane.

"And she lives up to that" Josef whispered to the princess, making the girl giggle.

"Don´t listen, Darling, you are my best girl, aren´t you" Clarisse gushed, then allowed the stable hand to help her into the saddle while Josef assisted Mia before mounting his own horse.

"We´ll just let you get the feel of it today" the queen told her granddaughter comfortingly for Mia was looking terrified as she tried to adjust to her horse´s movements.

Josef gently corrected the princess while they slowly moved through the park, Clarisse´s temperamental horse occupying the queen´s whole attention what in Josef´s opinion wasn´t a bad thing for Mia.

Finally Clarisse noticed how exhausted her granddaughter was and declared the lesson to be over.

The queen stayed atop her horse while the stable hand helped the princess down, then announced that she would stay out a bit.

"Coming?"

She asked Josef who nodded, then she spurred on her horse and Josef hastened to try and keep up with her though he knew that there was no chance to catch her unless she let him.

The queen reigned her horse in next to the lake and waited for Josef to reach her, then leaned over to him and pressed a quick kiss to his cheek.

"Thank you for helping her so much- I would have been much to hard on her."

"I know that, Darling" Josef smiled, then dismounted and lifted the queen off her horse.

"So do we have some time or so we have to go back now?"

"We´ll just steal some time, shall we?"

"That sounds like a wonderful idea" Josef breathed into her hair, deeply inhaling the scent of her shampoo.


	11. Chapter 11

I know, it took ages but I do feel properly ashamed...

Captain Weirdo: Yeah, that´s what I thought too :D Ohhh, Joe is great at manipulating our favorite girl, in a nice sort of way of course but still... Thank you very much and sorry again it took so long.

JUJUChick16: Thank you very much- glad you enjoyed it, here´s more now!

bluegirl-783: Well, sounds like something Mia would say ;)

Hehe, well, she IS perfect at everything- and Joe does have a point, she IS his boss, somehow this seemed really funny when I wrote it...

Oh yes, uncomfortable dresses... Isn´t Joe a nice, thoughtful guy... I´m in love with Caprice, I want to steal her out of the story but I just gave her to Clarisse, so I suppose I don´t stand a chance... Hehe, yes, at least he tried.

Thank you for the great, detailed review!!

Clarisse found her granddaughter in the entrance hall where Mia was playing with Maurice.

"You were out until now?"

The princess asked, taking in the sight of the queen´s riding outfit.

"Yes and it wasn´t even that long, I wish I could just have stayed outside, it´s such a beautiful day."

"Uhm, ok- I think I had enough, every bone in my body is aching."

"You´ll get used to it" Clarisse stated and Mia groaned.

"Merciless, aren´t you, this is supposed to be a holiday."

"Who ever said that?"

Clarisse started to climb the stairs and Mia followed her.

"It´s not?"

"Not exactly, of course you are supposed to enjoy yourself but we still have a lot to do, after all there won´t be a chance for any further instructions for a while after the summer."

"I´ll try and not forget it all again, promised."

"That´s reassuring- you have the rest of the morning off by the way, I´ll go and take a shower now and then I have to sort out my paper work before lunch."

"I´ll go and find some food then" Mia beamed and she was off before Clarisse had the chance to say anything else.

The queen proceeded towards her suite but was held up again, this time by Charlotte who hurried towards her with a stack of papers.

"Your Majesty, I´m so sorry to keep you from your shower but I really need you to sign this."

Clarisse took the fountain pen her secretary was handing her and signed the paper, then she glanced at her watch.

"I´ll be at the office in thirty minutes, Charlotte, can you have some tea brought up, please?"

"Of course, Your Majesty."

The queen looked after the younger woman as Charlotte all but ran down the corridor and shook her head, the poor girl always was in such a rush, her job seemed to be worse than Clarisse´s own.

She heaved a sigh of relief when she finally closed her bathroom door behind her and began to get out of her clothes, it was amazing how quickly the relaxation she had felt after her stolen half an hour with Josef was already making way for an increasing amount of tension again.

"That would be all, Your Majesty" Charlotte announced, taking the last folder from the queen´s desk.

"Thank you, Charlotte, take the rest of the afternoon off."

"But-"

"No excuses, you work too much."

"Yes, Your Majesty" Charlotte sounded defeated at the queen´s final tone and Clarisse smiled."

"Good- why don´t you go down to the garage and tell Michael to take you into town for a little shopping trip? I believe the winter collection has arrived in the shops, just get whatever you can use and send the bill on to me."

"Your Majesty, I couldn´t possibly-"

"You like shopping, don´t you?"

The queen asked, looking up at the young woman.

"Well, yes, of course."

"Wonderful, so have fun."

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

Charlotte was smiling now, reminding Clarisse of a child on Christmas morning and she wondered when her secretary had had a day off for the last time, obviously she wasn´t a very good employer.

Charlotte had just left the room when the door opened again and Josef entered, closing the door again behind him.

"Did you offer Charlotte a pay rise or something?"

He asked and Clarisse laughed, shaking her head.

"No, I gave her the afternoon off and send her on a shopping trip, she´s working too much."

"Aren´t we all" Josef sighed, then added "I´m spending twenty four hours around you, I should get to take a break."

"You don´t want a break" Clarisse teased back, getting up from her chair and rounding her desk so Josef could pull her into his arms.

"No, I don´t, my Darling, quite the contrary, I would be heartbroken if you told me I should leave you alone" He assured her before gently covering her lips with his.

--

"Again?"

Mia pleadingly looked at her grandmother.

"Can´t I have a break, like try it again on Tuesday?"

"Darling, the more you practice, the faster you´ll learn" Clarisse stated and the princess sighed.

"Ok, ok, I get it- so what´s going on this afternoon?"

"What´s going on is an interesting term to put it- what is going to go on is that I´ll start educating you in Genovian trading policy and then we´ll meet with Sebastian, it´s his birthday next week and I´ll be hosting a dinner party for him."

"Oh, cool- I mean it will be a party, won´t it, not a really formal dinner?"

The princess asked hopefully and Clarisse thought about that for a moment.

"It won´t be as formal as a state´s dinner, it will be a buffet and we´ll have a big band, Sebastian enjoys Jazz- but you´ll wear an evening gown and a tiara all the same I´m afraid."

"That´s ok, I don´t mind pretty dresses that much anymore, actually- the band sounds great and it´s not a sit down dinner, so I can´t do that much wrong, that´s good news."

"I´m glad you are looking forward to it- do you want some pie for dessert?"

"It´s pear pie, isn´t it" Mia asked doubtfully and Clarisse nodded.

"Yes, I suppose so."

"Are you going to eat any?"

"I never eat dessert" Clarisse answered smoothly, just when Josef entered the room.

"She hates pears" he told the princess, "that´s why she tells everyone she doesn´t like sweets."

Mia nodded, a bright smile on her face.

"Good thinking, Grandma."

"That´s ridiculous, Josef, it has nothing to do with the pears, I just don´t like sweets, that´s all. If you don´t want any pie, Amelia, you may get up, I´ll see you at my office at three."

"Ok, see you then- bye, Joe."

The princess left the room and Clarisse got up, motioning for Josef to follow her.

"Where are we going?"

"The kitchen."

"And what would we be doing there, not trying to steal any chocolate cake, would we, after all you don´t like sweets."

"Oh stop it, Josef, I can´t have Mia think I´m worming my way out of the pear thing, she will have to eat the horrible things for the rest of her life."

"She should make sure to marry someone who has a fondness for them, maybe the next king or queen will actually enjoy them then."

"Well, Rupert did and my sons as well and look how Mia thinks about them, so obviously that´s not a guarantee either."

"Fair point."

They had arrived in the kitchen and to Clarisse´s relief found it deserted, so she quickly got a large sticky chocolate cake out of the fridge and transferred two large slices onto plates.

"Let´s go up to my suite, no one will disturb us there."

"Sure- what will you use to disguise the cake?"

Clarisse looked around but didn´t see anything suitable.

"Secret passageway?"

Josef asked and the queen nodded, smiling coyly.

"Seems as though we didn´t have a choice- let´s go."


	12. Chapter 12

_Captain Weirdo: LOL thanks! Well, no castle without secret passage ways, havn´t we learned that from Harry Potter... Or probably even earlier- anyway, thank you so much for reviewing :D_

_bluegirl-783: I´m sorry it took so long- hehe, yeah, I couldn´t resist the shopping trip thing... Poor, poor Josef, I do feel SO sorry for him ;) Well, I will never quit making such stupid pear jokes, I HAAAAAATE pears with a passion, I love fruits- though I love chocolate cake more- but pears are simply- uh, I´m shuddering right now- I wrote something about King Rupert and his despise of coconuts, that´ll give you an idea, I just can´t work out in which story I can fit it into... Thanks so much for reviewing again!_

_Clarisse Renaldi: Of course, secret passageways belong into every good castle!_

_Hm- no idea- very funny idea but I can´t imagine it, not after her being queen was the reason they had to go through all that trouble- hehe, I´ll tell him that when I talk to him next ;) Ohhhhh, naughty Joe is SO much fun- thank you so much for the reviews!_

"Why didn´t I tell her I´d see her at four?"

Clarisse stifled a yawn before reluctantly disentangling herself from Josef´s arms.

"You obviously didn´t plan sensible, you could have known we´d end up in here if we took the chance to be alone in your suite."

The queen sat up on the bed and looked down at her lover.

"Perhaps I´d simply thought we´d be grown up enough to not allow ourselves to get carried away like this."

"Are you trying to blame this on me, Darling?"

Josef teased her, sitting up as well and pulling her back against his chest.

Clarisse trembled when his lips softly grazed her shoulder and then traveled on to her neck, her head falling back to give him better access.

"Of course I´m trying, otherwise I´d have to admit that I simply can´t think clearly whenever I´m alone with you and that would be very improper for a queen."

"For a queen perhaps but right now you are simply a breathtakingly beautiful, very sexy woman and being in love is nothing to be ashamed about, quite the contrary."

"Thank you" Clarisse replied softly before turning her head so she could capture Josef´s lips with her´s in a last sweet kiss.

"We really need to hurry up, we can´t risk anyone coming up here to look for me."

"That might be a bit of a give- away indeed."

"Yes- will you be joining us for dinner? I´ll ask Charlotte as well, it won´t look so suspicious that way."

"Good thinking- of course, you don´t honestly think I´d miss out on one of your gourmet meals and eat in the kitchen instead."

"You make it sound as though I was starving my staff members" Clarisse complained, pouting but Josef only laughed.

"No chance, as adorable as you might look when you do this, you are going to hurry up now."

"That was rather obvious, wasn´t it, I should have known."

The queen sighed as she finally got up from the bed and wrapped herself into a robe.

"I´ll go and have a shower- are you going to sneak out?"

"I will have no choice, no one saw me coming in here so it wouldn´t look too good if they saw me coming out."

--

_Hello, Darling."_

_Clarisse closed the office door and proceeded to the table where Mia was sitting and reading a traveling magazine about Genovia._

_"Hi, Grandma- Charlotte gave me this, it´s nearly interesting and the pic of you is gorgeous."_

_"Thank you, Mia, I like it too- so do you know anything about Genovian trading policy yet?"_

_"Joe told me some stuff- actually he told me a lot- I´m not sure how much I remember but I´ll do my best."_

_"Wonderful, so straight onto it then- I know you don´t enjoy pears but I´m afraid they´ll be the main topic for today."_

_"Yeah, I know- maybe we could start exporting something else?"_

_The princess sounded hopefully and Clarisse had to hide a smile._

_"Amelia, how can you say something like that, don´t let anyone hear you talking disrespectful about pear growing."_

_"All right, so I´ll get a t-shirt printed, something like Princess Protects Pears- wow, why didn´t I come up with that one in literature class?"_

_"Indeed, what a shame- now seriously, Darling, the growing of pears has a long tradition in Genovia, we have a pear picking ceremony, followed by the annual pear picking ball, unfortunately you won´t be present at one until you move to Genovia for good since you´ll be back at school at the time."_

_"What a shame- uhm, sorry."_

_"Apology accepted- so tell me, what do you remember about the things Josef told you?"_

_--_

"How did it go?"

"Actually I was rather positively surprised- she really remembered a lot from what you have told her."

"I tried to make it interesting for her- there´s so much she has yet to learn."

"Yes- thank you, you did me a great favor."

"Anything for you" Josef smiled and the queen wrapped her arms around his neck and leaned her head against his shoulder.

"I love you so much- Charlotte and Mia will be down at the dining room in ten minutes."

"Then we should go."

Clarisse sighed, not moving from where she was leaning against him.

"Hey-" Josef reached for her chin and tipped it up so she would look into his eyes.

"Don´t look so sad, we´ll have time to ourselves later- now come on, we shouldn´t let them wait."


	13. Chapter 13

**bluegirl-783: Thank you- well, they´ll find SOME ways to be alone ;) Well, I DO think that pears are very very bad, I despise them, so I´ll make sure to do lots of pear bashing, why couldn´t they have stuck with Meg Cabot´s olive oil idea, I LIKE olive oil- well, however, thank you for reviewing as always :D**

**Liesel Meminger: Hey- aw, I know that problem, stupid graduation is getting to me- yeah, being creative when it comes to pears is not my strong side, I rather try not to think of them too often... Lol, send me a pic of that shirt, all right? ;)**

**JUJUChick16: Oh, good, welcome to the club then- I thought it was funny having Clarisse try to get ways around eating pears, I mean they eat them ALL the time, so it must be really stressful to avoid them- Thank you!**

**green dame: Well, personally I´m absolutely sure they have had an affair ever since they came back from San Francisco, I mean they aren´t teenagers who feel awkward about admitting feelings or about having a sexual relationship, they are both mature adults and I simply can´t see them not living up to their feelings- that´s just my point of view of course but in my stories it´s always fact that they are a couple if the plot is set after the first movie. I´m sorry it took so long, graduation really isn´t fun!**

**Regina-sp: Aw, thank you so much, please keep reading and reviewing then :D**

_Sorry for the delay, I´ll try to be quicker again in future! _

Clarisse watched Mia pick at her dessert, feeling sorry for the girl.

She had quickly swallowed the few slices of pears that had been on her plate and washed them down with the delicious wine, then had started on the cheese which was much more enjoyable than the pears.

She had stored several boxes of chocolates in her room and was looking forward to have some once she was back upstairs.

She waited until Mia was safely immersed in a discussion with Charlotte before leaning over to Josef.

"How are we going to do this?"

"Easy- I´ll bring some hot chocolate up with me."

Clarisse tried to hide her smile of anticipation and continued to sip her wine until Josef excused himself, wishing them all a pleasant night and announcing that he would have to check the installation of the new cameras that had been delivered that afternoon.

The queen waited for some minutes, then she very obviously stifled a yawn for both Mia and Charlotte to see.

"I think I will go to bed- I´ll see you at half past eight in your riding dress, Mia."

The princess groaned and hid her face in her hands, earning herself a stern glance from the queen.

"Posture, Amelia- Charlotte, I´d like to have the report for my meeting with Sebastian on my desk at eight tomorrow, is that possible?"

"Of course, Your Majesty."

"Thank you- goodnight, you two- and Mia, don´t stay up too long, I can´t having you fall off your horse tomorrow."

"Yes, Grandma- sleep tight and don´t let the bedbugs bite you."

"I don´t hope we have those here, Darling but thank you."

--

"Finally, I was starting to wonder if I should come and look for you" Josef teased her as she closed the door behind herself and Clarisse smiled lovingly.

"Very funny, I had to make it convincing that I was tired after all- and I had to remind Mia of her riding lesson in the morning, she was rather determined to forget about it."

"I´m sure you didn´t let her get away with it- so we are in for another hour of fun?"

"Yes, we are- did you bring the hot chocolate?"

"Of course, my Darling- let´s get some chocolate out of your secret hiding place."

The queen smirked as she walked over to her desk and unlocked one of the drawers to take a large box of chocolates out of it before following Josef over to the couch.

"Actually I´m surprised she´s not more enthusiastic, I thought horse- back- riding would be just her thing."

"Well, rocks don´t tend to throw you off I suppose- do you want marshmallows?"

"Of course I do- and yes, I think you are right- perhaps we should get her her own horse."

"You think that would make her warm up to it?"

"She doesn´t have a choice, she has to warm up to it and it might be good if we let her choose a horse she actually likes and that is young enough to learn with her."

Josef nodded slowly while taking a sip of hot chocolate.

"You are having a point- there´s nothing on your schedule except for dinner with the German ambassador, so we could go looking for a horse at your stud farm in the morning and stay most of the day."

"That´s a good idea- I´ll have Mia informed about the change of plans tomorrow, I suppose she´s either on the phone or watching TV now."

"Most likely she is- more chocolate?"

He lifted a piece of nougat out of the box and held it up for Clarisse who took it from him, smiling as the sweet chocolate melted on her tongue.

"The perfect choice" she flirted, looking up at him through her eyelashes.

"I always make the perfect choice, you of all people should know about that."

"I´m afraid I can´t follow you" the queen sighed dreamily as she leaned against the sofa, her face resting in her hand.

"Well, there´s this lady- she´s practically perfect and she´s my most perfect choice."

"Oh?"

"Yes- then there´s my job of course- I´d say it´s the most interesting job in the world- and the most important on top of that."

"And what makes it so important?"

"I´m guarding this perfect woman I was talking about."

"What a wonderful coincidence- you are right, you most certainly are good at making perfect choices."

"Would it be another perfect choice if I would kiss you right now?"

"Absolutely."

--

"Good morning, Darling."

"Oh, hi Grandma- why aren´t you dressed yet?"

"I am, we´ve changed our plans- we are going to pick out a horse for you."

"We- what?"

"You have heard quite correctly- I think it´s a good idea, you can bond with your horse, form a real relationship."

"Uh- ok, if you think so- so we are going now?"

"Yes- Josef will be driving us up there."

"You do have normal horses there, right- no mustangs, no Caprice, just a nice horse that likes scared princesses?"

"Don´t worry, Darling, we´ll find just the perfect match for you- now come on, Josef will be waiting for us outside already."

--

"See, they already are best friends" Josef stated, watching the princess talk animatedly to the chestnut next to her.

"Obviously- though I would have preferred it if she hadn´t insisted on naming her after her favorite movie."

"You have never even seen Grease, have you?"

"No- why, have you?"

"I admit I´m guilty- Mia forced me."

Clarisse started to laugh as Josef tried to look hurt but he quickly gave up and joined into her mirth.

"It´s not such a bad movie after all- the music is really good actually."

"Tell that to the poor horse, she had such a nice name and now she´ll have to get used to Sandy."

"She will get over it- we should leave now, it´s getting rather late and I believe you have paper work to do before you change for dinner."

"Yes, I really do- Amelia, come on, say goodbye, we´ll have her brought to the palace tomorrow."

"Sure, Grandma!"

The princess called back while the queen took Josef´s arm and started to walk back towards the limousine waiting for them outside the stables.

Mia caught up with them a few minutes later, looking a lot happier than she had that morning.

"She´s gorgeous, isn´t she- what are we going to do now?"

Josef held open the door for the queen, then accompanied Mia around the car.

"Her Majesty has paper work to do and then I will drive her down to Pyrus for dinner, I believe that leaves you to do whatever you want."

"Oh, fab, I need to call Lily- thanks, Joe."

Josef closed the door behind Mia, then got into the front seat next to the driver.


End file.
